KSA needs 4 million expatriate workers

Saudi Arabia will require more than four million foreign workers during the next 10 years to carry out gigantic industrial and infrastructure projects including the Riyadh-Jeddah railway and build economic cities, a prominent Alkhobar-based Indian businessman said.

“Saudi Arabia is a virgin market with many business and investment opportunities. Many giant projects are under construction including the GCC railway, the GCC power grid and Jazan Economic City. All these projects will require at least four million new foreign workers in the coming years,” Siddeek Ahmed, CMD of Eram Group, told Arab News.

King Abdullah extends amnesty period till November 4, 2013

JEDDAH: King Abdullah, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has extended by four months the amnesty period for undocumented expatriates in the Kingdom to correct their status.

A royal order cited by a Ministry of Interior statement and carried by the Saudi Press Agency on Tuesday said the original three-month grace period, which ends on July 4, will be extended to the end of the current Hijra year 1434, equivalent to November 4, 2013.

Once the new deadline expires, inspections by appropriate agencies such as the Ministries of Labor and Interior, will resume inspections in various regions of the Kingdom and all penalties will apply on violators, the statement said.

With this new deadline, the Ministries of Interior and Labor urged all undocumented expatriates who have yet to register to come forward and have their status corrected.

Legal Workers Who Were Never Handed Iqamas

With hardly a week left for the three-month grace period to end, the fate of thousands of expatriates who are not in possession of their iqamas or even know the number, hangs in balance. Worse still is the situation of those expatriates who not only do not have a clue about their iqamas but do not have their passports with them either.

Cases of missing Iqamas

It is mandatory for illegal workers to at least give their iqama number if not produce it before the Saudi passport authorities to facilitate exit from the Kingdom or rectify their job status.

It’s common practice for sponsors in remote villages not to hand over iqamas to their employees like drivers, farm workers and shepherds, mainly to prevent them from running away. In several cases, the sponsors do not even apply for iqamas for their employees once they land in Saudi Arabia. Such expats do not have any documents, and at times like this, they are the worst hit.

Saudi Arabia weekend now Friday-Saturday: Royal Order

JEDDAH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has today issued a royal order that Friday and Saturday should be the new weekend holidays. The original weekend in the Kingdom was Thursday-Friday.

Accordingly, the order will be enforced Saturday, June 29, for all ministries, government departments, financial institutions as well as the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the Capital Market Authority, and the Saudi Stock Exchange.

Jarir Publication Catalog 2013

Jarir Publication Catalog 2013 [138 Pages]